Torts has no fond farewell for Perrin

For some reason this item from Wednesday's paper didn't make it onto our web site, so for anyone from out of town, here is an interesting little nugget:

Coach John Tortorella wished Eric Perrin well but also said not to let the door hit him on the way out.

"He can kiss my (butt),'' Tortorella said.

Perrin, who in 2004 at age 29 got his first NHL opportunity with the Lightning, which got a recommendation from Perrin's college buddy Marty St. Louis, signed with the Thrashers as a free agent for two years, $1.5-million. That, apparently, was just $150,000 more than the contract offered by Tampa Bay, which also offered a three-year deal worth $1.575-million.

"This organization spent a lot of time with this guy, a lot of time,'' Tortorella said. "Eric Perrin did some really good things for us, and the ice time he got, he deserved, but every year it's nothing but a pain to sign him.''

Said Perrin: "I can imagine them, maybe, being upset, but to me it's nothing personal. You're grateful you get your first opportunity in the NHL, but a lot of things have happened since I've been with the organization.''

Perrin had 13 goals and 36 points in 82 games last season playing primarily on Brad Richards' line. He was slotted next season as a fourth-line center. He said the Thrashers told him he will start on the third line.

"That to me was important,'' Perrin said. "I don't think any hockey player would blame me for making that decision. It's not personal and it's nothing against the experience I had in Tampa because everybody knows how much I love playing there. ... But everybody could see the writing on the walls that I wasn't going to get those opportunities.''

Tortorella was not moved.

"I wish him well,'' he said, "but good riddance.''

   

Comments

[Tim A]

I'd take Torts the Coach over any of the A@# kissing patsies that call themselves an NHL coach any day. At least with Torts you get someone who speaks his mind and lets his players know exactly what he feels. He is an honest and gruff man and not a back-stabbing coward. When someone leaves Tampa Bay they know why right up front! They might not like it but everyone tells them they either didn't cut it in the program here or they sucked.

Most people who leave get their little feelings hurt because they think more highly of themselves than what they should have. One thing that I have noticed, that when most players come to Tampa Bay from elsewhere they get opportunity to excel, while at there last team's stint they usually rode the pine or didn't fit into the system. "Torts the Terrible" as some of you think of him, has developed other teams throw away players into superstars because they have bought into his philosophy, savvy, expertise what ever the heck it might be. This is the sign of a good coach.

I do know this... Marty St. Louis is a super star because of the coaching and the chances given to him by coach Torts, the same goes for Vinny and the same goes for Brad Richards.

Torts gives players chances when they have shown that they have the intestinal fortitude to do what it takes to win in the NHL.

Torts is a very successful NHL coach and if you want the old trap and pray, illiterate and can read coaches that we used to have in here back, then you are not much or a hockey expert as you pretend to be and not much of a Tampa Bay Lightning Fan.

As for me and my loyalties, I'll stick with Torts... 2004 Stanley Cup Winner. The Lightning will win the Cup again so be patient and don't go wanting to throw the baby out with the bath water.

And one other thing, if you don't know what your talking about, shut your yap!

[Satch]

I can't believe I'm doing this.

Michael, let's put this Feds thing to bed forever. You informed all of us that we heard it from you first today that feds signed elsewhere. Just now you say ".......and back to fedetenko...since you knew he was gone because he sat..." What the .....????

Where have you been? Every year the bolts management and coaches meet with each player after the end of the season and have what's called an exit interview. The discussions range everywhere from what the teams plans are for the player, to what they want the player to work on in the off season, to ......... whatever. At feds exit interview almost 3 months ago, it was decided by both parties that they would part company. It's been in the paper, on the radio, and every fan knew it. Except you.

You mentioned in another area that I have lost credibility here and nobody will believe anything I say anymore. Don't worry about me. Think about the simple fact that you had no idea about the Feds deal and that tells everyone all they need to know. An expert commentator who knows nothing.

Look, Michael, nothing personal. Share your opinions all you want. That is what this place is for. Just make sure your opinions are based in fact.

By the way, in O'Brien's last 5 in games in Anaheim, he got over 20 minutes of ice time. 4th on the D. His minutes were hardly diminishing.

See what I mean?

I may very well have lost credibility here. Only because I've wasted my time with this. I've called you on a few things and you haven't answered the bell. All you do is spew a little more with incorrect information. Feel free to prove me wrong. Just check your facts before you state anything. It would go a long way in saving your face.

My Best!!

[bolts26]

Well I agree with Torts, and for everyone who thinks our management is crappy, think again. Feaster has done a great job, rated as the 2nd best manager in all of pro sports. There is a salary cap now, a lot of teams are going to be competitive. To the blank poster who said they only won by 1 goal when they won, who cares, a win is a win! 4 points from the division championship crown last season, i would say that is a successful season. Yes they have gone 2 years without getting past the 1st rd. of the playoffs, but what have the bucs done? Tortorella wants to win and he demands it from his players, and now with Tortorella and Sullivan, they will be a great coaching team! As far as im concerned, if we make the playoffs it was a successful year, we aren't going to win the cup every year folks, its the hardest trophy in all of sports to win. It took us what, 12 years to do it, and that is one of the shortest spans of any organization, bottom line, be happy if we make the playoffs, some organizations would kill just to make the playoffs! (columbus)

[bolts26]

Well I agree with Torts, and for everyone who thinks our management is crappy, think again. Feaster has done a great job, rated as the 2nd best manager in all of pro sports. There is a salary cap now, a lot of teams are going to be competitive. To the blank poster who said they only won by 1 goal when they won, who cares, a win is a win! 4 points from the division championship crown last season, i would say that is a successful season. Yes they have gone 2 years without getting past the 1st rd. of the playoffs, but what have the bucs done? Tortorella wants to win and he demands it from his players, and now with Tortorella and Sullivan, they will be a great coaching team! As far as im concerned, if we make the playoffs it was a successful year, we aren't going to win the cup every year folks, its the hardest trophy in all of sports to win. It took us what, 12 years to do it, and that is one of the shortest spans of any organization, bottom line, be happy if we make the playoffs, some organizations would kill just to make the playoffs! (columbus)

[michael babnik]

satch I am here,...o'brien was getting less and less minutes....his minutes might have been up....but as the year wore on he was used less and less....fact......the team has been gutted.....period.....andreyc...modin...fedet...stillman......sarich....cullimore.....sydor.....khabby......kubina....these guys were all-stars and olympians....we have replaced them with minimum wage players.....you must either be blind or the most loyal fan in the world....and there is a difference between loyality and ....well i will let you fill in the rest....be nice!!!!...how do you explain playing the big 3 28-29-30 minutes every single game over the last two months???/does torts know something no other coach in the history of hockey has known....or was he just forced to play these guys every other shift because we lost.....see my list at the top of this paragraph....the year we won the cup we had 7 different 20 goal scorers, or at least 7 with 18, this year 3.....i liked brad lukowich....but remember the cup run?? he was the odd man out.....now he will be one of our top 4...oh yeah
4 of those guys from the cup are gone....sydor, cullimore, kubina, and sarich.....we had the most points in the league that year....the last two years we made the playoffs on the last saturday night.......and satch, by what you write,... we are moving in the right direction.......and back to fedetenko...since you knew he was gone because he sat.......why hasn't denis been moved yet.....his 3.2 million dollar butt never even got dressed....
oh I forgot....oops...we are stuck with him for two more years.....
w-a-k-e u-p!!!!

Steve not quite sure why you would want to knock the Isles hockey staff, they are professionals after all, they do know a few things about the game and have won quite a few more cups than us.

Find me another 28 year old UFA that scored 26 goals recently. While your at it find one that can skate and hit. I can save you the time.

Perhaps Feds just got sick of Torts. It happens.

Who are those Bolt prospects again? Having the leagues worst farm system,unbelievably we traded our 1st round pick last year away.

Could have had Angelo Esposito or the Russian phenom at #16.

[Steve]

Are you seriously trying to make a point by following the logic of the Isles GM and pro scouting staff? Now that's funny!

I do agree the farm team has sucked for years, but they are finally improving the depth this year, which should help the younger players develop. This has been an oversight on Feaster's part and has likely negatively impacted the growth of many bolts prospects over the last few years. Either that or they are awful drafters, hard to tell which.

[bear]

Heh Satchman:

I was merely commenting on a thoughtful post, but since you question any logic other than your own, why do you think the GM and pro scouting staff of the New York Islanders just wrote a cheque to Feds for 3 million dollars for one year? Maybe because he is under 30 and scored 26 goals two years ago.

We have an AHL team in Norfolk this year because Springfield fired us for putting such a non competitive team on the ice last year, which was the point of "me the dummy's" post in the 1st place. There is zero organizational depth on the Bolts.

[Satch]

I should know better to answer this. Especially since the points I called noname on were never addressed. That alone tells me that there's nothing behind the nonsense. That, and someone who doesn't have the kahonies to use a name. I'll take one last shot to see if noname can answer anything or just dribble on.

here's an interesting tidbit.....

".....o'brian was the number 7 d-man for the ducks....within a week he was getting more minutes than any other d-man except boyle....analyze that..."

Maybe you should. First of all it's O'Brien not O'Brian. That's ok, spelling doesn't matter. Facts do. Seems like you like to look at minutes. Check this out..........you called O'Brien a #7 in Anaheim. Tell me where he ranked in minutes in Anaheim. Let me save you the time. He was 4th. 4th in ice time and you call him a #7 dman? I'm willing to hear your explanation for that insane comment. A #7 guy doesn't get #4 ice time. Got it? Please feel free to explain yourself.

next........

"....satch I have 6 other guys in my season ticket pool...one of them said...what is feaster doing.....pulling a florida marlins????wonder what he means by that satch???"

Good question!!! Why are you asking me? Why don't you ask him? Maybe then you can explain it to both of us. If you are referring to the time the marlins traded all their salary so they could sell the team, how does that equate to anything here? If the lightning was dumping all their salary and filling in with anyone who ever played little league then I might understand the link. I have no clue what he meant. Why don't you talk to him and then let me know what that means.

Please be specific.

[F.T.B.S.]

So Damian, how come the last two posts weren't flagged as spam?

satch.. look at ...payroll going down response...my bad i posted it on the wrong column...but i did some homework for everybody.....hard to argue the facts...hope you get to read it.....signed me the dummy

satch....it's me.......did everyone also know we were going to lose all of the other guys to.......seems anyone wanting a raise no longer fits in...even if it is a very small raise...still the same question.....this team will have a bunch of new faces, a bunch of inexpensive faces, a bunch of unproven faces....with no capability of building around them....$$$$$.....when we won the cup we had four solid solid lines.....we had a goalie.... satch are you telling me you are excited about the changes over the last four weeks??? satch, we are a shell of the team that won the cup.....captain dave, fedetenko,stillman,sydor,modin,sarich, kubina, cullimore, khabby,..etc etc....we have lost a virtual all-star team.....maybe this is the first time you are hearing some of this???? anyway, sarcasm never gets you anywhere...this team had 40% of the payroll in three guys...flashback, everyone was signing people for a run at the cup last year.....we signed two guys who were not even playing at the time.....o'brian was the number 7 d-man for the ducks....within a week he was getting more minutes than any other d-man except boyle....analyze that.....look at the minutes in the last series.....we were playing about 13 guys....5 or 6 players were getting less than 4 minutes.....these are not my opinion...they are facts...i am getting side tracked....but it all leads to the same thing......we have zero depth and after last week i think we are actually going backwards.....last year we were top heavy, $$$....this year we are playing on a 2006 cap number and everyone else has a 2007 cap....again we are behind the ole eight ball....satch I have 6 other guys in my season ticket pool...one of them said...what is feaster doing.....pulling a florida marlins????wonder what he means by that satch??? good nite all

[Satch]

Bear........we are on buddy!

You don't see any dents in the logic? Hard to see dents in something that doesn't exist! Logic? It's absolute nonsense! Shall we disect this garbage?

Let's start here..........

"torts is out of control...i have been saying it for a while......we have zero depth and he sits fedotenko to make a point......all ego..."

HUH????

Feds sucked last year. That's why he sat and deservedly so. Players earn time here and Feds wasn't earning anything. Period. End of friggin story. Get that logic?

lets move on to some other earthshattering news...

".....readers beware...we will lose pratt....."

Pratt was offered a deal and turned it down. Now Luk is back and Pratt's offer is probably off the table. He had a job and snubbed it. His services are no longer needed here. At the very least, his bargaining power with the Lightning is nil. Thanks for the heads up jack!! Nice to see you are on top of things.

Then we have the 30yr old comments about signings necessary to fill out a minor league roster and no name doesn't like them. Here's a little logic for you, you don't sign these guys, you have no AHL team. Kinda makes sense doesn't it?

No need to address the Feds thing again.

I could go on but those dents are big enough. There was no logic in that post.

[Satch]

And another thing

Thanks for the news.

"and alert you heard it hear first .....FEDOTENKO SIGNED WITH SOMEONE ELSE ALSO"

I think you are the only one who heard it first. It was decided right after the season, by both parties, that the Bolts and Feds would part ways. Any self respecting Bolts fan would know that.

I do appreciate you filling us in on something we all knew would happen.

[bear]

Well, whether the last poster signed off or not, I'm hard pressed to find a dent in any of their logic.

Bolts have more than half of their eggs in 3 1/2 baskets leaving no depth at all.

Wonder what Feaster thinks of Joe Thornton and Jerome Iginla extending their contracts long term at , ahem, 7 Million per season starting next year.

As opposed to say Bolts paying a vastly over paid contract of 7.8 starting last year.

I bet when Crosby signs he won't be asking for 10 million. He knows he needs a few quality guys around him to help the cause.

[Satch]

I'm not surprised you didn't sign your name to that nonsense.

torts is out of control...i have been saying it for a while......we have zero depth and he sits fedotenko to make a point......all ego.....he puts so much verbal pressure on his goalies.....he gives his team a perfect out by continually going to the press to single a player out.....just shut up and coach!!!!!
and guys.....every one is leaving for more money....flip it around......if perrin only left for 150k....dah....maybe it says something about the lightning management......artukin????we let him sit for a couple hundred g's....dah....
seems feaster can only sign a. rookies....
b. 30 year old career minor leaguers... c. 30 yr old europeans with little nhl experience....or d. minimum wager players....since we won the cup our roster has gotten worse and worse and worse.....the first week of free agency and we lost lost lost....let's see a show of hands and does anyone think we are better now than at the end of the year.....when we were woefully average.....look at the end of last year.....the last 20-30 games.....if we won, we won a one goal game....and often we lost to a non-playoff team by 6-2 or 5-1....see washington and florida...and torts kept playing our stars...i mean are only real nhl players...more and more and more..hello, we had no one else to play....2.5 lines playing against 4 lines!!!!and jay feaster keeps going to the paper with the most positive attitude...."i relieve believe this guy can make a contribution" he says that about every bum he signs.....but history says they are journyman at best....he wants us all to believe that his keen eye has found yet another nhl player that no one else has given a chance to..........we were strapped by the salary cap...so we endured and endless list of minimum wage players last year.....the cap goes up 12%, but davidson imposes his own salary cap....and we open the paper everyday to see we are losing players for one reason...money....and most of their replacements....not all, but most....are guys that have not made it at any stop along the way.....readers beware...we will lose pratt.....and i sure hope they are saving their pennies for ranger....he makes 450k and they better be ready to spend or we will lose him again.....and torts can say good ridance to him also.......torts always says he likes to teach.....he better....we will have half of our team this year be new guys...............and alert you heard it hear first .....FEDOTENKO SIGNED WITH SOMEONE ELSE ALSO......i know....i know... already the spin from torts and feaster.....he had lost it and we are glad to see him go........i wish i had the optimism some of you have....i think we are riding a sinking ship....hope not....fear so

[bear]

Torts isn't really going off on our man Eric or Feds, (who just got 3 mill), or Sarich.

I think it is more the reaction of a man who see's his team at the self imposed cap, losing 3 guys with nothing but a recycled depth Dman to show for it.

Another brutal poker hand in a very high stakes game that he has to play.

At this point I'm with him.

He strained every ounce he could out of the team last year.

[MooDaddy]

Go on Eric take the money and run. I still think that I could have put up better numbers on a line with Richy Rich!

[Raymond]

Torts needs to shut his yap. What a stupid thing to say. This is a young man who bounced around Europe and the minors for relatively small paydays. He finally gets a chance, perhaps his last chance, to get a significant pay day and play some. Good for Eric. He played hard while he was here and earned his salary. If he wants to pick up an extra $150,000 - hell I'd do it too.

[jane]

Wow. Leave it to Torts once again. No wonder the majority of players in the NHL hate him. Heck even most of our players try hard to avoid him when possible.

[Tim A]

Torts is right! No Loyalty!

[Tim A]

Torts is right! No Loyalty!

[The Falconer]

How many years did Perrin sit in the minors after they signed him to a contract? Maybe he'd be more grateful if they hadn't sent him down until he was 29. The only reason a guy like Perrin got a crack last year was that Tampa had most of their salary tied up in their three stars and had to go cheap on the bottom six lines.

[Joe]

Eric is in for a few surprises, and he will likely learn that he is his own worst enemy. Many feel that has made a very major mistake. That said though, it seems a very classy coach would have had the discretion to just let Perrin go without public comment. Everyone knows what "I wish him well means" - both Feaster and Torts said it. It is like the often used hockey expression, "that guy is getting 'bad advice'."

But, this banal business about "kiss my butt" and "good riddance" seems like it should be beneath a guy who holds a head coaching job at the NHL level. And, speaking of being one's own worst enemy, Tortorella, imbued with his own sense of personal hubris, has become an incorrigibly and dysfuctionally outspoken nerve-center in the Lightning organization. Clearly, He is "getting very bad advice" about handling his interfaces with the media.

[Mike13]

I do not share Tort's position on this one. Yes, it is frustrating to lose a guy for a pittance, but it wasn't about the money. He knew that he was not going to get the same opportunities that he had last year. I don't blame him for moving on. I blame Torts and his extremely abrasive style of coaching.

It works for some guys. It doesn't for others. Perrin worked his tail off last year and proved the he could play the Bolts style. No he didn't put up the numbers expected of a 2nd line player, but he was a valuable player in terms of penalty kills and creating turnovers. Not to mention that I loved watching a 5'9" guy slamming into players bigger than him and knocking them off the puck.

[Nan]

Skipping town for just 150 grand more doesn't make a lot of sense and just to supposedly start on the third line instead of the fourth. We will see how long he lasts on that third line. I agree with Torts, good riddance!

[boltz25]

Hahaha! Torts is great! I needed that laugh today. And you know what Perrin, "Shut your yap!"